Alex Mack: The Nightmare Begins
by jonjon8412
Summary: Alex Mack was just another high school teen until a freak accident turned her life into a nightmare. Now bizarre things are happening to her hat she can't control...and that she can't stop. This is basically the first episode of the show tweaked a bit and told in a horror format of science gone wrong. It's a work in progress. Stay tuned for mo
1. Chapter 1

**I**

_Beep! Beep!_

The alarm clock sounded. Alex groaned as she peaked her head out from underneath her blankets. It was 6:00 A.M. And the first day of her senior year of high school.

Alexandra Louise Mack was an average teenager, struggling to find her place in this world. She was the daughter to Barbara and George Mack, both hard working and good people. They worked long hours, which meant Alex rarely saw them. She was close, however, to her sister Annie, and even though Alex thought Annie was an overachiever sometimes, she loved and trusted her sister.

Alex threw the blankets off of her and sat on the edge of her bed. She stretched and yawned. She hated mornings. "If mornings would start around 1:00 P.M. The maybe I wouldn't hate them so much," she would often joke. But today was important, so she forced herself into the shower and some clothes for the day. She carefully picked out her clothes, taking much of her time dressing and redressing, not able to decided what to wear. A typical 17-year-old girl. After finally settling on an outfit, she then selected a hat – her signature look – and headed downstairs.

"Good morning," she announced s she headed into the kitchen. To her surprise, she was alone. She looked at the clock. 7:49 A.M. "Oh no!" she exclaimed to herself, thankful her parents weren't around to hear her. She hurriedly grabbed a muffin and wolfed it down. She then grabbed a carton of milk out of the refrigerator and took a huge drink. She winced as she spat the milk into the sink. It had gone sour. "Already off to a great start..."

School didn't go much better. She barely made it before the first bell, got lost on her way to her first class, and the teacher there was a complete witch to her. At lunch she got tripped by one of the snobby cheerleaders and spilled her lunch. The rest of the day wasn't as bad, but it was still awful. When the final bell rang she was thankful. She grabbed her books, threw them in her bag and hurried off before anything else could happen.

It was hot that day. There were barely any clouds in the sky, and barely a breeze blowing. Typical south-western weather. Paradise Valley was a decent place. There wasn't much o do but it was pleasant. The people were friendly enough. Located in the heart of Arizona, it wasn't much of a tourist attraction. There weren't any lakes or streams good for fishing, no casinos or anything like that. People did come from neighboring towns to explore the many rock formations and dig for stones, but other than that there wasn't anything usually out of the ordinary. _Usually._

Alex walked briskly, wanting to get home as soon as she could. She let out a sigh and said to herself, "This day couldn't suck anymore."

As she was crossing the street, she didn't notice the truck racing towards her. She barely heard the driver beating the horn. She looked up just in time to avoid being crushed as the driver swerved to miss her. The truck took out a fire hydrant and slammed full force into a phone pole, sending the driver through the windshield. Alex fell to the ground, water and mud drenching her. She lay o the ground a moment trying to catch her breath. She slowly rose and brushed herself off. "Great," she said as she noticed her clothes were ruined. "You should watch where you're going!" she shouted at the driver. There was no answer. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" She yelled again. Still no answer. Angry, she stormed off towards the truck. "Not even an 'I'm sorry for almost killing you'? You know, you've got a lot of nerve you -" she stopped in her tracks. Anger turned to horror as she discovered the driver's limp and lifeless body sprawled out on the concrete. It was a grisly scene; bones protruded from flesh, his face was bloody and full of glass. Alex covered her mouth in horror, instantly taking back her previous comments. She backed away slowly, then turned to run. Suddenly the latch on the truck's back doors snapped and a black barrel came crashing to the ground, breaking in two. A glowing green ooze spilled from inside it and mixed with the water from the hydrant, covering Alex from head to toe. It burned horribly as she screamed and fell to the ground. She felt as if someone had dumped hot acid all over her body. Her arms, legs, face, and hands burned. She felt as if her flesh was slowly being peeled from her bones. It felt like an eternity before it finally stopped. She lay on the ground breathless from screaming. She held her eyes closed tight, fearing the worst. She didn't want to see her body melted into goo, but decided to open her eyes. To her surprise, relief, and confusion, there was no burned flesh or charred remains to be found. In fact – there was no trace of the chemical on her body at all! She checked herself for any damage, but she seemed OK. A bit sore, but still alive She got up and hurried home, confused as to what had just taken place.

**II**

When Alex arrived home, both her parents cars were gone.. Her parents must have been held up at work, which was alright with Alex as she really didn't want them to know what had happened. It was her sister Annie she wanted to talk to. She took out her key from her pocket and, trying hard to control her panicked and shaking hands, unlocked the door and went inside. She searched the house high and low, yelling out for her sister. No answer; Annie must have been tutoring yet another fellow student. "Great. Why does she have to be such a genius?" Alex decided to go upstairs and look herself over as she was still puzzled. What happened to the glowing green chemical? She went in her room and changed her clothes. She sat on the edge of her bed a moment, then went over to her mirror.

Alex looked at herself in the mirror. She looked at her face, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing, not even a droplet of ooze in her hair to suggest she had been drenched in nastiness. She sighed, thinking to herself that maybe this was nothing. She felt an itch on her cheek, so she scratched it. It didn't go way. It got worse and as it did she scratched harder. She began scratching so hard that her ace began to bleed. She began to panic. Her flesh began tearing and sloughing off into the sink, her hands and arms bubbling and burning. Her head began throbbing as she clutched her hair, screaming out in pain. Her hair began falling out into her hands as large bulbous protrusions appeared. She felt herself melting. She glanced in the mirror once more. Now, staring buck at her, was not a beautiful, hazel eyed teenager, but a hideously deformed creature. Her screams of torment echoed through the halls of her home.

**III**

"NO!" she screamed, awaking on her bed. She must have dozed off while waiting fr her sister. She felt her face with her hands; she was OK. It was just a horrible dream. She breathed a sigh of relief. The front door opened downstairs as a voice called out, "Anybody home?"

It was Annie. Alex bounded down the stairs to meet her sister. "Hey Alex, how was your first day of high school?" Annie asked as she set down her books.

"It was okay I suppose. It's going to be an interesting year I think"  
"Well that's good," Annie said as she turned to reach into the refrigerator. "I'm glad you're optimistic. Your first day of junior high you were kind of scared. You behaved like the world was coming to an end," she joked as she rifled through the fridge's contents. "Do you know if we-"  
"Annie I need to talk to you," Alex interrupted. She decided it was now or never. She took a deep breath and began to speak. "Something happened to me today as I was walking home. Something I'm not sure I can explain," she began. "You see, I was kind of involved in an accident."  
Annie stopped in her tracks, stood up and turned slowly. "What kind of an accident?" she asked, not sure what her little sister was going to say. Alex very worriedly began to explain.

"The kind where a truck careens off the road, almost runs me over and the driver is launched from the vehicle, becoming a bloodied corpse."

Annie gasped in shock, her eyes widening. "Oh my God, Alex! Are you alright?" she questioned as she moved in to hug her sister, but Alex stopped her. "There's more," she continued.

"The truck was carrying some sort of glowing green chemical and..." she paused.

Annie looked legitimately scared now. "Oh God.."

"But the weird thing is, there's no trace of it anywhere on me. As much as it burned and as painful as the whole situation was, there's no proof or signs of anything! It's got me a little scared."

Annie hugged her sister. "You don't look like it did any damage, but just in case you should be careful alright?"

Alex nodded. "Alright. I'm going to make a sandwich, you want anything?"

"Sure. You know what I like," she answered as she headed into the living room.

Alex began cutting up and avocado for her sandwich. The knife slipped and she cut herself. "Ouch!" she said, instinctively grasping her hand. She looked at it to see the damage. Her eyes widened in horror as she screamed loudly.

Annie rushed into the room. "What's wrong?"

Alex looked at her sister and slowly showed her her hand. Annie covered her mouth as fear gripped her. On Alex's hand instead of red human blood, was a bright glowing green liquid. Just like the chemical that had doused Alex.

**IV**

Annie feverishly searched for some bandages and gauze for Alex's hand. She couldn't believe it. Why was this happening? Alex, too, was grief-stricken. She sobbed as she shrieked in terror "I'm a freak! What's going on?"

Annie did her best to comfort her sister. "No, don't say that! You aren't a freak, you're my baby sister! I don't know what's happening but we'll get through this. It's going to be OK, you have to believe that"

"How? How can I? You saw it! You saw that junk! It's changing me into something horrible! I'm going to be a hideous teenage mutant _thing_!" Alex screamed as she began weeping again.

Annie wanted to cry as well. She wanted to break down and just sob right along with Alex. Alex had never hurt anyone in her life. She was always sweet and kind to people, often being the one to get hurt. But this? This was almost too much. What was happening to her sister? She also began wondering about the chemical itself. What was it? Who made it? For what purpose? Nothing made sense about it. The driver had been killed, certainly his employers would be wanting answers. She was certain that _someone_ would be investigating.

"Alex, were there any witnesses to the accident? Did you see anyone at all?" she asked.

Alex shook her head no. "No, the only other person was the truck driver."

The image of his corpse haunted Alex.

"Did you notice any logos or corporate insignias on his uniform or the truck or anything?" she continued.

Alex thought a moment. "There was something...yeah, now I remember. On the side of the truck, there was a logo. A world with hands on either side, like they were holding it," she began explaining, "and three words, but I can't remember what they said."  
"It's alright, I think I have an idea. Come into the kitchen, we'll use my lap top."

Alex got up off the floor and followed Annie into the room. After a minute of searching and hunting, Annie found something. It was the logo that Alex described. Underneath the logo were three words: Heartland Consumer Products. But this raised more questions than it solved. HCP was a healthcare pharmaceuticals company. They only made things like cold tablets and cough syrup. Why would they be in possession of a chemical that could do what it was doing to Alex? Who was it meant for?

"Alex, this may be bigger than we thought," Annie said turning to face her sister. Alex was no where to be seen. She called out to her. "Alex?"

"Annie!" she heard her sister's voice call out. But something was wrong. Her voice sounded strange. Deeper and garbled. "Annie!" she heard her voice again..It sounded as though it was coming from her feet. She looked down and screamed in wide eyed horror. At her feet were her sister's clothes, and a shimmering silver puddle. "Annie help me!"

**V**

"Alex!" Annie screamed as she got on her knees beside the puddle.

"Annie help me! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?" Alex screamed in terror.

Just what _was _happening to Alex? And what could Annie do? Annie fixed every problem her sister came to her with. She was always quick with sound advice and never judged Alex for making mistakes. That's why Alex came to her first. But this? This was a nightmare, And for the first time in her life, Annie didn't know what to do. She tried to calm herself and think.

"OK. OK, Alex. What was the last thing you remember before this happened?" She asked.

Alex thought hard. "The last thing I remember...was thinking I wanted some water."

Annie thought to herself a moment. There had to be some logical way to figure this out. "OK, Alex. I want you to concentrate a minute. Think about yourself in a human form. Arms, legs, eyes, hands, your whole body. Concentrate hard!

Alex tried to concentrate but she was so scared that she couldn't focus.."Annie I can't do it!"

"Alex you have to try!" she cried out, an air of frustration in her fear-stricken voice. Alex tried harder. A featureless form began to rise from the puddle. It was working. Alex concentrated harder, until finally returning to human form. She collapsed to the floor , breathing heavily. Annie held her sister's naked frame and cried with her. As weird as things had been, they were getting weirder.


	2. Chapter 2

The director stood at the window of his corporate office, looking down on the streets from

the 10th floor of the HCP headquarters. He was happy, as word had reached him about the incident in Paradise Valley. The door swung open, and Vince Carter, the sadistic head of HCP security, stepped in. Vince was an ex Navy Seal who was dishonorably discharged from the service. His cunning and penchant for violence meant that he was perfect for HCP's security force. He was also their attack dog, sent in when situations require...alternate...persuasion.

"Director," Vince greeted his boss. The director stood with his back facing Vince. "Vince, we have a problem," he began. "It would seem that due to a fatal error, that shipment of GC-161 never reached its destination. As you know, that facility needed those samples to begin production. Now we are behind schedule, and that means we are losing money. We can't afford to let the other companies get ahead of us."

"What would you have me do, director sir?" Vince asked. The director turned to face him..

"I want you to go to Paradise Valley and find out what the hell happened to our product!"

Vince stood silent a moment and then said to the director, "I will do as you say, director. Rest assured I will find out what happened, even if I have to tear that town apart to do so."

The director smiled. "Oh I know it, Vince. That's why I'm sending you.. Take whatever you need. And Vince: no matter what happens, HCP cannot be responsible. We already have too much blood on our hands. NOTHING is to be traced back to us. Understand?"

"Yes sir."

The director smiled.


End file.
